Bastos-Silveira, Cristiane

Mathias, Maria da Luz

Neves, Isabel

English

Conservation research and policies tend to be significantly restricted wherever relevant data on biodiversity is sparse, scattered or non-curated. Thus, the usefulness of occurrence data, for the study of biodiversity, depends not only on the availability but also on data quality. Notwithstanding the increase in the global availability of primary biodiversity data, they have numerous shortfalls, from incomplete or partially erroneous documentation to spatial and temporal biases (Hortal et al. 2015, Aubry et al. 2017). Also, many non-digitized specimen collections, scientific publications and grey literature are locked as printed or digital publications.
  We integrated existing knowledge, from dispersed sources of biodiversity data, namely Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), natural history collections, wildlife survey reports, species checklist and other scientific literature. This procedure allowed an update of Mozambique's checklist of terrestrial mammals (Neves et al. 2018). Despite the potential from digital data to overcome gaps of knowledge, a relevant constraint on creating or updating species checklist is the dificulty to access spatially-disperse collections and examine every specimens upon which occurrences are based. To partly overcome this impediment, we developed a species selection process for specimen data from GBIF and museums (Fig. 1). The aim was to categorise the species detected in more than one data source as species with the well-supported occurrence. In addition to the number of collectors, we also accounted for the number of records collected and presented in Smithers and Tello (1976), the last checklist produced for Mozambique' mammals.
  A species-occurrence record was considered well-supported and included into the species checklist when was:
  
    independently recorded by different collectors or
    recorded by a single collector but listed in Smithers and Tello (1976).
  
  An additional list was produced which contained species with questionable occurrence in the country. Species entered this "questionable occurrence" list when they were:
  
    not listed in Smithers and Tello (1976), and a single record supported its presence in the country;
    not listed in Smithers and Tello (1976) and multiple records exist, but were all cited by a single author; or
    registered with a single record in Smithers and Tello (1976).
  
  We compiled more than 17000 records, resulting in a total of 217 species (14 orders, 39 families and 133 genera) with supported occurrence in Mozambique and 23 species with questionable reported occurrence (Table 1). The proposed approach for species selection can be adapted and function as a powerful tool to update species checklists of countries facing similar lack of knowledge regarding their biodiversity. The capacity to pinpointing species and specimens in need of occurrence and taxonomic re-evaluation is of great value to optimise collection's study and to boost collaboration between curators and researchers. Lastly, considering that most records integrated are from European and North American institutions, this work would significantly improve with the integration of data from African institutions. Therefore, an effort should be made to make these essential collections accessible online

NEUROSURGERY ENTHUSIASTIC WOMEN SOCIETY

Sharing the Decision Process Framework to Identify Well-supported Records of Mammal Species-occurrence in Mozambique

Universidade de Lisboa: Repositório.UL

Biodiversity Information Science and Standards 3: e35265doi: 10.3897/biss.3.35265 Conference Abstract Sharing the Decision Process Framework to IdentifyWell-supported Records of Mammal Species-occurrence in MozambiqueIsabel Queirós Neves , Maria da Luz Mathias , Cristiane Bastos-Silveira‡ Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa (FCUL), Lisboa, Portugal§ Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência (MUHNAC), Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal| Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), FCUL, Lisboa, Portugal¶ Natural History and Systematics Research Group - cE3c, FCUL, Lisboa, PortugalCorresponding author: Isabel Queirós Neves (i.queirosneves@gmail.com) Received: 08 Apr 2019 | Published: 18 Jun 2019Citation: Neves I, Mathias M, Bastos-Silveira C (2019) Sharing the Decision Process Framework to Identify Well-supported Records of Mammal Species-occurrence in Mozambique. Biodiversity Information Science and Standards3: e35265. https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.3.35265 AbstractConservation research and policies tend to be significantly restricted wherever relevantdata  on  biodiversity  is  sparse,  scattered  or  non-curated.  Thus,  the  usefulness  ofoccurrence data, for the study of biodiversity, depends not only on the availability but alsoon  data  quality. Notwithstanding  the  increase  in  the  global  availability  of  primarybiodiversity data, they have numerous shortfalls,  from incomplete or partially erroneousdocumentation to spatial and temporal biases (Hortal et al. 2015, Aubry et al. 2017). Also,many  non-digitized  specimen  collections,  scientific  publications  and  grey  literature  arelocked as printed or digital publications.We integrated existing knowledge, from dispersed sources of  biodiversity data,  namelyGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), natural history collections, wildlife surveyreports, species checklist and other scientific literature. This procedure allowed an updateof Mozambique’s checklist of terrestrial mammals (Neves et al. 2018). Despite the potentialfrom digital  data  to  overcome gaps of  knowledge,  a relevant  constraint  on  creating  orupdating  species  checklist  is  the  dificulty  to  access spatially-disperse collectionsand examine every specimens upon which occurrences are based. To partly overcome this‡,§ ‡,| §,¶© Neves I et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source arecredited.impediment, we developed a species selection process for specimen data from GBIF andmuseums (Fig. 1). The aim was to categorise the species detected in more than one datasource  as  species  with  the  well-supported  occurrence.  In  addition  to  the  number  ofcollectors,  we  also  accounted  for  the  number  of  records  collected  and  presentedin Smithers and Tello (1976), the last checklist produced for Mozambique’ mammals.A species-occurrence record was considered well-supported and included into the specieschecklist when was:1. independently recorded by different collectors or2. recorded by a single collector but listed in Smithers and Tello (1976).An additional list was produced which contained species with questionable occurrence inthe country. Species entered this "questionable occurrence" list when they were:1. not listed in Smithers and Tello (1976), and a single record supported its presencein the country;2. not listed in Smithers and Tello (1976) and multiple records exist, but were all citedby a single author; or3. registered with a single record in Smithers and Tello (1976).We compiled more than 17000 records, resulting in a total of 217 species (14 orders, 39families and 133 genera) with supported occurrence in Mozambique and 23 species withquestionable reported occurrence (Table 1). The proposed approach for species selectioncan be adapted and function as a powerful tool to update species checklists of countriesfacing similar lack of knowledge regarding their biodiversity. The capacity to pinpointing Figure 1. Species  selection  process  framework  - decision  tree  followed  to  establish  whether  thereport of a species for the country was well-supported (as in Neves et al. 2018).2 Neves I et alspecies and specimens in need of  occurrence and taxonomic re-evaluation is  of  greatvalue  to  optimise  collection’s  study  and  to  boost  collaboration  between  curators  andresearchers. Lastly, considering that most records integrated are from European and NorthAmerican institutions, this work would significantly improve with the integration of data fromAfrican  institutions.  Therefore,  an  effort  should  be  made  to  make  these  essentialcollections accessible online.Order Total Threatened Species < 10 records Recent Report Questionable occurrenceAfrosoricidae 2 1 1  -Artiodactyla 25 3 1 24 3Carnivora 33 4 6 21 -Chiroptera 71 1 41 58 8Eulipotyphla 9  3 7 4Hyracoidea 3  1 2 -Lagomorpha 4  2 2 -Macrocelidea 5   2 1Perissodactyla 3 1  3 -Pholidota 1 1  1 1Primates 8  1 7 -Proboscidea 1 1  1 -Rodentia 51 1 17 33 6Tubulidentata 1   1 -Total 217 13 73 162 23KeywordsSpecies checklist;  Africa;  Natural  History  Collections;  Primary  biodiversity  data;  Dataquality Table 1. Summary description of the species checklist of terrestrial mammals reported for Mozambique(Queirós Neves et al. 2018). The table shows, per mammal order, the total number of species inthe Species  checklist  (‘Total’),  the  number of  threatened species  (‘Threatened Species’),  thenumber of species reported with less than 10 records (‘< 10 records’), the number of speciesreported from Mozambique after the year 2000 (‘Recent Report’), the number of species with"Questionable Occurrence". Species are considered ‘threatned species when are classified as‘Vulnerable’,  ‘Endangered’  or  ‘Critically  endangered’  following  the  International  Union  forConservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List (2017).Sharing the Decision Process Framework to Identify Well-supported Records ... 3Presenting authorCristiane Bastos-SilveiraReferences• Aubry K, Raley C, McKelvey K (2017) The importance of data quality for generating reliabledistribution models for rare, elusive, and cryptic species. PLOS ONE 12 (6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179152 • Hortal J, de Bello F, Diniz-Filho J, Lewinsohn T, Lobo J, Ladle R (2015) Seven shortfallsthat beset large-scale knowledge of biodiversity. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, andSystematics 46: 523‑549. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-112414-054400 • Neves I, Da Luz Mathias M, Bastos-Silveira C (2018) The terrestrial mammals ofMozambique: Integrating dispersed biodiversity data. Bothalia 48 (1). https://doi.org/10.4102/abc.v48i1.2330 • Smithers RH, Tello JL (1976) Checklist and atlas of the mammals of Moçambique. 8. TheTrustees of the National Museums and Monuments of Rhodesia, Salisbury.4 Neves I et al

Conservation research and policies tend to be significantly restricted wherever relevant data on biodiversity is sparse, scattered or non-curated. Thus, the usefulness of occurrence data, for the study of biodiversity, depends not only on the availability but also on data quality. Notwithstanding the increase in the global availability of primary biodiversity data, they have numerous shortfalls, from incomplete or partially erroneous documentation to spatial and temporal biases (Hortal et al. 2015, Aubry et al. 2017). Also, many non-digitized specimen collections, scientific publications and grey literature are locked as printed or digital publications.
  We integrated existing knowledge, from dispersed sources of biodiversity data, namely Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), natural history collections, wildlife survey reports, species checklist and other scientific literature. This procedure allowed an update of Mozambique’s checklist of terrestrial mammals (Neves et al. 2018). Despite the potential from digital data to overcome gaps of knowledge, a relevant constraint on creating or updating species checklist is the dificulty to access spatially-disperse collections and examine every specimens upon which occurrences are based. To partly overcome this impediment, we developed a species selection process for specimen data from GBIF and museums (Fig. 1). The aim was to categorise the species detected in more than one data source as species with the well-supported occurrence. In addition to the number of collectors, we also accounted for the number of records collected and presented in Smithers and Tello (1976), the last checklist produced for Mozambique’ mammals.
  A species-occurrence record was considered well-supported and included into the species checklist when was:
  
    independently recorded by different collectors or
    recorded by a single collector but listed in Smithers and Tello (1976).
  
  An additional list was produced which contained species with questionable occurrence in the country. Species entered this "questionable occurrence" list when they were:
  
    not listed in Smithers and Tello (1976), and a single record supported its presence in the country;
    not listed in Smithers and Tello (1976) and multiple records exist, but were all cited by a single author; or
    registered with a single record in Smithers and Tello (1976).
  
  We compiled more than 17000 records, resulting in a total of 217 species (14 orders, 39 families and 133 genera) with supported occurrence in Mozambique and 23 species with questionable reported occurrence (Table 1). The proposed approach for species selection can be adapted and function as a powerful tool to update species checklists of countries facing similar lack of knowledge regarding their biodiversity. The capacity to pinpointing species and specimens in need of occurrence and taxonomic re-evaluation is of great value to optimise collection’s study and to boost collaboration between curators and researchers. Lastly, considering that most records integrated are from European and North American institutions, this work would significantly improve with the integration of data from African institutions. Therefore, an effort should be made to make these essential collections accessible online

Neves,Isabel

Mathias,Maria da Luz

Bastos-Silveira,Cristiane

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Sharing the Decision Process Framework to Identify Well-supported Records of Mammal Species-occurrence in Mozambique

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NEUROSURGERY ENTHUSIASTIC WOMEN SOCIETY

Universidade de Lisboa: Repositório.UL

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